Alexey Brodovitch

Alexey Brodovitch (1898-1971) is a legend among graphic designers. A Russian who fled the Bolshevik Revolution to settle eventually in Paris and then New York, Brodovitch was one of the pioneers of graphic design in the twentieth century.

Brodovitch was Art Director of Harper's Bazaar for over two decades (1934-58); he designed and produced several exquisite and highly collectable books with collaborators such as Richard Avedon and Andre Kertesz; he was a talented photographer himself; and, through an informal class called the Design Lab in New York, he trained a younger generation of photographers and designers who went on to become famous artists and art directors in their own right.

This book is a comprehensive monograph on Brodovitch's life and work, drawing from interviews with a wide spectrum of colleagues and collaborators - and assimilating previously unpublished material from archives and private collections around the world - to offer an in-depth analysis and appreciation of Brodovitch's unique and lasting contribution to the visual arts.

Kerry William Purcell is a writer, lecturer and freelance picture editor. A former archivist at The Photographers' Gallery in London, he has written widely on film and photography.